Tragic end for the un-PC police chief who targeted real criminals and enjoyed being back on the beat

By SAM GREENHILL

Last updated at 09:36 12 March 2008

Michael Todd, who was found dead on Mount Snowdon last week, has been linked to a fifth and sixth woman

Michael Todd was a hands-on leader tipped for the top job in British policing.

His no-nonsense attitude earned him respect on all levels and he was a rarity among police chiefs, despairing at political correctness and passionate about pursuing criminals rather than motorists.

Indeed, after the September 11 attacks, when serving as a Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner, he made no apologies for switching 200 traffic officers to street-crime fighting duties to deal with a rise in muggings.

Regarded as a "copper's copper", Mr Todd loved going out on the beat with rank and file officers.

Only two weeks ago he wrestled an offender to the ground on the streets of Manchester.

Still young in police career terms at 50, he was tipped to take over the job of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from Sir Ian Blair.

However, since moving North in 2002 he had grown to enjoy the Manchester lifestyle and could regularly be found watching football in the directors' box at Old Trafford.

He had told friends the top job in UK policing held no attraction for him. But inevitably, attention will now focus on his private life for clues to explain his apparent suicide.

He was married to Carolyn and they had three teenage children.

It is well known he split from his wife several years ago while in the Met but the couple had got back together after only a few months apart.

It was also no secret in police circles that during the split he was in a relationship with a female Scotland Yard colleague.

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Todd pictured with Gordon Brown outside Greenheys Police station in Manchester last November

Now a coroner will study letters addressed to his loved ones found on his body, and police colleagues will investigate whether he feared some hidden aspect of his life was about to be exposed.

Mr Todd spent his spare time with his children, mountain biking and reading - particularly military and political biographies.

His heroes were Alexander the Great and U.S. Generals Norman "Stormin" Schwarzkopf and George Patton.

After the 1997 general election, while at Nottinghamshire Police, he kickstarted the inquiry into Labour MP Fiona Jones, who was accused of fiddling election expenses and later claimed she was propositioned for sex by a Cabinet member in return for a government job.

In 2005 he headed inquiries into allegations that CIA "torture flights" had landed in Britain.

When he took over at Greater Manchester Police in October 2002, he inherited one of the worst performing forces in the country.

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Tasered: Michael Todd was filmed being shot with a Taser stun gun as part of a publicity campaign in favour of providing officers with the non-lethal weapons

Halted: Michael Todd is immobilised by a Taser

However, within three years his emphasis on arresting thugs and thieves had transformed clear-up rates for burglaries, robberies and car crime.

As leader of Britain's second biggest force, he made it his mission to stamp out gun crime and stop youngsters from being sucked into gang culture.

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Protecting Her Majesty: Mike Todd was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2001

His force became the only one in the country that made a loss from its speed cameras and he once warned that relentless pursuit of speeding drivers could alienate the police.

Mr Todd, a snappy dresser in his social life, frequently went on night patrol to "keep his hand in", once flooring a burglar in Stockport after stumbling upon a four-man gang targeting a school.

He said at the time: "When this guy realised he had been nicked by the Chief Constable, he was more than a little surprised."

He added: "People think being Chief Constable means I'm chained to the desk all day but I'm still a police officer, still carry a warrant card. Why shouldn't I get out there and arrest people?"

More recently he proved his mettle by allowing himself to be shot with a 50,000-volt Taser stun gun to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Michael Todd was born in Ilford, Essex, in 1957 and originally joined Essex Police in 1976, serving as both a uniformed officer and a detective.

He married Carolyn in Chelmsford in 1980 and they had twin sons aged 14 and a 17-year-old daughter.

He was educated at Essex University, where he was awarded a First class honours degree and then an MPhil in Politics.

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Top-level: Michael Todd with Tony Blair in 2004

He was appointed an Assistant Chief Constable in Nottinghamshire in 1995 then joined the Met in 1998 as

Deputy Assistant Commissioner.

When May Day rioters defaced the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in 2000, he drew flak for allowing it to happen - unfairly perhaps, since he was only a police spokesman on the day.

But at the same event the following year, he was nicknamed "Mr Public Order" for quashing the rioters.

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Dedicated: Michael Todd was admired by his colleagues

In 2003 his Greater Manchester force was branded the worst in Britain with Todd himself claiming Inspector Morse fans made better cops than some of his own officers.

But within two years he had turned around the crime figures.

A friend said last night: "He had policing running in his veins. He despaired at how political correctness was ruining the police."